236 



FARMIiiRS' REGISTER. 



[No. 4 



seeing their silk worms tormented by hunger; the 

 hurdle? are strewed with worms that languish and 

 die. Thus, hy their want of forecast, they use- 

 lessly sacrifice the lives of a great number of 

 these precious insects. 



Nong-sang-tsi-yao. — It depends on one's self to 

 retard or hasten the changing of color, in the 

 eggs; but care must be taken to change them in 

 a natural manner, and not to compromit the life of 

 a silk worm enclosed in the egg. 



When the leaves of the mulberry tree are 

 grown, at eight or ten o'clock in the mornintr, the 

 sheets of paper must be taken out of the vase, un- 

 rolled and hung up. There is no rigorous rule to 

 determine the progress of the egcrs. Only the first 

 •day, their color must be changed to three-tenths, 

 the second day to seven-tenths. Then the leaves 

 must be rolled, they must be put in a paper tube, 

 with the two ends well pasted, and they must be 

 replaced in the vase. The third day, towards 

 twelve o'clock, the rolls must be again taken out 

 of the vase and unfolded. Their color will then 

 be completely changed. 



Nong-sang-pi-Kioiie. — The art of raising silk 

 worms begins with the choice of the eggs, and 

 the preservation of the cocoons. Select in the co- 

 coon room, the cocoons that are turned towards 

 the light (that is to say, those from the top of the 

 cocoon room) such as are brilliant, neat, and of a 

 firm texture. 



The moths which come out the first day, are 

 called mian-ngo (viz : grass moths. The latest of 

 all, are called mo-ngo, (that is to say: the last 

 butterflies.) Neither of them ought to be kept. 

 Only those which come out after the second day 

 must be taken. The sheets of the paper must be 

 spread upon the cases of a shelf, then the males 

 and females come close together and copulate. 

 When the evening comes, the male butterflies 

 must be taken away, and the females must be 

 placed on sheets of paper, leaving an equal dis- 

 tance between them. The eggs which are found 

 in lumps, ought to be thrown out. Wiien the fe- 

 males have laid a number of eggs, they must be 

 left on the sheets where they are deposited and 

 covered from three to five days. When the 

 sheets are hung up, the eggs ought to be turned 

 outward (read: i n- ward ) ibr fear the wind may 

 cause tliem to perish. 



_ Same work. — At the winter solstice, and the 

 eighth day of the last moon, the eggs must not be 

 bathed in too deep a water. 



After having dipped them, they must be taken 

 out. The fifteenth day of the moon (when it is 

 full) several sheets must be taken, covered with 

 eggs and rolled together. Tie them firmly with 

 a string of mulberry bark, (or of cotton,) and sus- 

 pend them before the porch or vestibule of the 

 house, at the height of a long pole, in order that 

 they may be exposed to the cold which is lelt at 

 the close of the year. After new-year's day the 

 rolls must be spread out, and placed upright in an 

 earthern vessel. At the end of ten days, when 

 the sun is above the horizon, the leaves must be 

 taken out of the vessel. Whenever the weather 

 has been dull or rainy, they must be exposed to 

 the heat of the sun, as soon as they commence to 

 hatch. 



Such is the manner of bathing and preserving 

 the eggs of the silk-worms. 



Wou-pen-sin-chou. — At the tipne called thsing- 

 ming, (the 5th of April,) take the leaves covered 

 with eggs, which have been deposited in an 

 earthen vessel and transport them, sheltered, from 

 the wind to a room where a mild heat reigns, and 

 suspend them at half the height of the apartment. 

 At the time called kou-iu, ('2Sth April,J expose 

 the leaves to the air and sun, but they must be in- 

 verted or turned inside out. You must roll from 

 left to right those that were rolled contrarily, and 

 you must roll from right to left those that were 

 rolled the opposite way ; every day you must 

 change and roll them in a dilferent way It-om the 

 old one. Afier having sutficientlj' rolled and un- 

 rolled them, you must put them as before in the 

 vase. 



When the time of hatching approaches, the 

 leaves must be carried to a room where they will 

 be sheltered from the wind and sun; the silk- 

 worms will hatch all at once. 



Same work. — To make the silk-worms descend, 

 when hatched, there are many persons who sirike 

 the reverse of the leaves with a small stick of 

 peach wood. When the worms have descended, 

 they gather them together with a small broom or 

 quill, put them in an envelop of paper and weigh 

 them, then spread them upon the hurdles. After- 

 wards, at the different periods of their existence, 

 they experience diseases which are frequently 

 produced by that dangerous practice. 



When the worms are hatched, a bed of chop- 

 ped straw must be placed on a hurdle, where are 

 likewise placed one or two jujube li-uits, cooked 

 in the ashes. Before the hatching of the silk- 

 worms, the leaves covered with eggs must be 

 weighed. After the hatching, the newly hatched 

 worms must be spread on the chopped straw, dis- 

 tribute them in an equal manner, and very distant 

 from one another. 



When the worms are all hatched, the empty 

 leaves must be weighed, and the exact quantity 

 of worms to be raised will be known. 



If the rules we have just laid down are faithful- 

 ly followed, not one silk-worm out of a hundred 

 will be lost. 



We see persons at the present day, who depo- 

 sit on a single mat, worms proceeding from one or 

 two ounces of eggs ; they are heaped up, and 

 pressed against one another. The infallible re- 

 sult is, that tliey lose a great number of silK 

 worms. 



When a person has newly hatched silk worms, 

 the proceeds of three ounces of eggs, it is neces- 

 sary to spread them in an equal manner upon a 

 large hurdle. Above all, do not raise too great a 

 number of silk worms, for, if your means only 

 permit you to nourish the silk worms proceeding 

 from three ounces of eggs, and, from cupidity, 

 you attempt to raise the worms of four ounces of' 

 eggs, you will soon feel the want of space, hur- 

 dles, laborers, and fuel. In this manner you will 

 lose, at the same time, your silk worms, and the 

 expenses incurred m that unprofitable attempt. 



Nong-tching-tsiouen-chou. — In the work enti- 

 tled Sse-nong-pi-yong, we read : 



" To make silk wornns hatch, the degrees of 

 heat and cold, proper for them, must be known, 

 and the manner of hastening or retarding their 

 hatching, in order that not one may hatch before or 

 after the others. 



